System on Chip (SoC) is now a commonly used concept; the basic approach is to integrate more and more functionality into a given device. Many SoC designs pair a microprocessor core, or multiple cores, with various peripheral devices and memory circuits, some of which may be non-volatile.
Ferroelectric random access memory (FRAM) is a non-volatile memory technology with similar behavior to DRAM (dynamic random access memory). Each individual bit can be accessed, but unlike EEPROM (electrically erasable programmable read only memory) or Flash, FRAM does not require a special sequence to write data nor does it require a charge pump to achieve required higher programming voltages. Each ferroelectric memory cell contains one or more ferroelectric capacitors (FeCap).
Other features of the present embodiments will be apparent from the accompanying drawings and from the detailed description that follows.